Archbishop de Paulo

Archbishop de Paulo's Episcopal Consecration

Biography

His Grace, The Most Rev. Dr. Craig
J. N. de Paulo, O.S.W. is Primate of the Old Catholic Confederation and Episcopal Commissary of the Church of the Province of West Africa of the Anglican Communion for Old-Catholics in North America. He is also Master General of the Order of St. Willibrord, an Old-Catholic teaching order of priests, oblates and associates.

From October 2013 to 2018, he served as Archbishop of
the United States and Bishop of Pennsylvania. As Archbishop, he worked tirelessly for the cause of unity among American Old-Catholics and brought theological clarity to the religious identity of Old-Catholics. He also registered the term "Old Catholic" in order to protect it from fallacious use. Likewise, he vigorously advocated for the religious rights of Old-Catholics as a religious minority in the United States; and most especially, against the discrimination toward American Old-Catholics by the Union of Utrecht. During his tenure, he also developed strong ecclesial relationships between American Old-Catholics and Anglicans around the world, and especially in Africa, signing agreements of full communion, based upon the canonical significance of the theology of the 1931 Bonn Agreement. In recognition of his relationship with the Church of Nigeria, he was created Episcopal Canon of the Cathedral of St. Bartholomew in Wusasa. Archbishop de Paulo likewise advanced ecumenical relations between U.S. Old-Catholics and other Christian churches, becoming elected to the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Council of Churches in 2015. He also defended the orthodox faith of Old-Catholics and developed relations with the Eastern Orthodox Churches in the United States. As a scholar and professor himself, he brought high standards of theological education and spiritual depth to priestly formation by establishing a successful ministry formation program affiliated with the small, independent college he founded and chartered in Florida in 2012. He argued for the necessity of a formal Code of Canon Law for the Old Catholic Church in the United States, providing rights and justice for the faithful and led the Commission on drafting the canons. He also brought high liturgical standards to the Church, and led the Commission on Liturgy to publish its own Altar Book. While archbishop, he also purchased an historic estate in Pennsylvania by his own generosity and founded St. Willibrord Priory that has become the spiritual center for Old-Catholics in the United States. Finally, he served as Ecclesiastical Endorser for Old-Catholic priests serving as Chaplains and Commissioned Officers in the U.S. Armed Forces and in the Veteran's Administration.

In his Diplomatic appointment as Episcopal Commissary, Archbishop de Paulo represents over one million Christians to the Episcopal Church in the United States. Serving in this post since the late Archbishop S. Tilewa Johnson, former Primate and Archbishop of West Africa, appointed him in 2013, his work has resulted in humanitarian aid to West Africa during the Ebola crisis and the advancement of dialogue between the Church of West Africa and the Episcopal Church in the United States concerning areas of controversy and dissent.

Elected a Bishop by the
Synod of Bishops of the Old Catholic Church in the United States on July 14, 2013, he
was consecrated to the Holy Episcopate by His Grace, The Most Rev. Peter Paul
Brennan, assisted by The Rt. Rev. Rodney R. Michel (Assisting Bishop of the Episcopal
Diocese of Pennsylvania) and His Grace, The Most Rev. Dr. William J. Manseau,
on September 14, 2013, the Feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross, at the Episcopal
Church of St. John in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. He was
ordained to the Diaconate for the Greek Rite of the Roman Catholic Church on March 24,
2007; and to the sacred Priesthood, at the Vigil of the Feast of St. John the
Baptist on June 23, 2007 at the Cathedral of St. Josaphat in Parma, Ohio, by
His Excellency, The Most Rev. Robert M. Moskal, then Bishop of the Diocese of St. Josaphat in Parma.

A philosopher, theologian and respected scholar, Archbishop de
Paulo holds the Ph.D. and Ph.L. degrees from the Pontificia Università
Gregoriana in Rome, a M.A. degree in philosophy and theology from Villanova
University and a B.A. degree in philosophy from La Salle University. His wrote his doctoral dissertation on the historical and philosophical influence of St. Augustine on Martin Heidegger’s Sein und Zeit, having the renowned Anglican theologian John Macquarrie as a guest reader. He also conducted doctoral research at the Katholieke Universiteit
Leuven in Belgium, working under the mentorship of the Rev. Professor Tarsicius van
Bavel, O.S.A. While an undergraduate, he completed studies in philosophy and
literature at the Universitè de Fribourg in Switzerland. Having earned his
doctorate at the age of twenty-seven, Professor de Paulo has held several
professorial appointments, having lectured at the Gregorian University in Rome,
Fordham University, Boston College and Temple University over the last twenty-four years. He has also published many scholarly articles and
books, and he continues to lecture widely in Europe and in the United States in various visiting and adjunct appointments.

While Rector of the Collegium Augustinianum from 2012 to 2014, Dr. de Paulo conferred honorary degrees upon Rev. Professor Hans Kung, the late
Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, S.J. and Archbishop Rowan Williams and his many accomplishments while Rector were recognized by proclamation by the Pennsylvania House of
Representatives and by the Senate of the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania. From 2014 to 2018, the Archbishop served as Chancellor, and he is Professor of Philosophy, Theology and Humanities at the
Collegium Augustinianum Graduate School of Philosophy, Theology and Classics.

In recognition of his scholarship and his dedication to the Church and the community, Archbishop de Paulo has received many honors and awards, including several decorations and Orders of
Knighthood. He is a Knight of the Order of Merit of the Royal House of Savoy of Italy and a Knight
of Merit with Star of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George of
the Royal House of Bourbon of the Two Sicilies (Kingdom of Spain). He has been decorated as Chevalier
of the Patriarchal Order of the Holy Cross of the Greek Catholic Patriarchate
of Antioch, Alexandria and Jerusalem. He was a Knight of Magistral Grace and an officer in the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes
and of Malta from 2002 until 2013; and a Knight Commander of the
Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem (a Vatican State knighthood), from 2003 to 2013, when he resigned from both Orders after over a decade of service upon reception into the Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands by Bishop Rodney
R. Michel, Assisting Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania, acting as Special Delegate of Archbishop Joris Vercammen,

A social activist, Dr. de Paulo is a strong advocate for national healthcare, public higher education as well as the rights of minorities and immigrants. In recognition of his many years working as
an advocate for the homeless and serving them in Philadelphia, then Governor Paul E. Patton of the
Commonwealth of Kentucky, conferred upon him an honorary Commission as Colonel
in the Kentucky State Guard and appointed him to the Governor’s Staff in 2002.

Archbishop de Paulo is married to Professor Catherine Conroy
de Paulo, and they reside with their son, Christian, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.